AEK finished their final friendly with a victory after going down 0-1 in the first half. The starting lineupfor AEK’s final game before the critical match against Omonia included Jurgen Macho and Edinho, both of whom have not played with team for quite a while now.

The game overall was a definate imprpovement over past games, and it was played with a quick pace at times. Rivaldo had showed some quick bursts of speed which have not been seen for a while and his corners and free kicks are starting to show some improvement. Alexopoulos was solid for the most part as usual, and many of the youngters who played today such as Pliatsikas,Pavlis,Zorbas, and Koutromanos all showed some promising displays of football at times. Pavlis came close to scoring but was not able to make contact with the ball when it came in front of him before an open net. Blanco, who is starting more of the life we saw last year as each game passeshad a few chances to score as well but was not able to get any into the net. Nsaliwa, still trying to impress Donis played a better game. He seemed to be more in control and was starting to make smarter passes at times.

At the beginning of the second half, Sotiris Kyrgkiakos, who just the night before played in Slovakia for the Greek National Team, made his first appearance with the team (Angellos Basinas has yet to appear). It was the solid performance many were expecting, especially when it came to getting the headers. Panagiotis Lagos and Nikos Georgeas also came in during the second half and the pair worked great together. They both showed great speed and passing and Georgeas’ defending skills were on par. Lagos had a clear chance to shoot but passed instead. The ball ended up at Socco’s feet and the Argentinian (who, as usual, had a great performance) comfortably put the ball in the back of the net to make the score 1-1.

The second goal was a header scored by Kone off of a cross from Ramos (the Brazillian had a decent performance, but wasn’t running with the ball as much as normal, and wasn’t as active as normal either). The scoreline remained at 2-1 untill the ref blew the final whistle. Both goals for AEK were scored in the last thrity minutes.

Overall, the team showed a improvement, but will still have to kick it up a notch higher if they are to leave Cyprus with a favorable result against Omonia.

Demis Nikolaidis started his career with AEK as a player, and a brilliant player he was. He scored 125 times in 189 games, and was considered one of the greatest players Greece has ever produced. He excelled when he played with AEK, his favorite team since his child.

After retiring, he helped, as president of AEK, to bring AEK back to a regular contender for the Greek Championship after they were being threatened with relegation to the third division due to the corruption of previous owners and presidents. He helped bring in many young and talented players and brought AEK within two points of the Greek Championship just last year.

Reports are now saying that he has quit as president of AEK. I have not been able to find any english sources on the internet yet but I will continue searching and will post them as soon as they appear.

NOTE: This might not be true, as it has not yet been confirmed. Demis will be having a press conference on the 25th of August, as stated on AEK’s website.

The young and talented Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has signed for Genoa, a team in Italy which currently plays in the Serie A. Many people have been expecting the move for a while but it was finalized just last night. The defender had been previously linked with Wigan but nothing ever came through with that deal.

The defender was a critical part of AEK’s defence last year, which had conceded the fewest goals of any other team in the league. He is fast defender who has a bright future ahead of him. His place is being replaced by experienced central defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos. Below is a video showcasing Papastatopoulos’ talent.

Sotiris Kyrgiakos has officially signed with AEK after leaving Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany. The centre back will join newly aqquired Greek National Aggelos Basinas who signed with AEK last night. Kyrgiakos should bring experience and add stability to a defence which as of right now looks like it should be a pretty solid back line for next season along with Majstorovic. Both Kyrgiakos and Majstorovic are tall (Kyrgiakos is 1.93m and Majstorovic is 1.90m) and strong defenders. As many saw during EURO 2008, Kyrgiakos’ man marking skills were excellent which should help if Donis decides he wants someone to keep an eye on the likes of Gilberto Silva and Kovacevic.